IT'S AS AMERICAN AS APPLE PIE. FOOTBALL. BUT IT'S A SPORT WHERE THE HITS ARE HARD AND THE INJURIES CAN BE DEVASTATING. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CONCUSSIONS AND BRAIN INJURY. THAT'S WHY THE KIND OF HELMET YOUR CHILD WEARS IS SO IMPORTANT IMPORTANT. TONIGHT, THE DEFENDERS EXPOSE WHICH LOCAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE USING LOW RATED HELMETS, WHICH COULD PUT YOUR CHILD AT RISK. FOOTBALL IS A VIOLENT SPORT, WE ALL KNOW THAT. PLAYERS HIT AND GET HIT AND SOMETIMES THOSE HITS CAN CAUSE A CONCUSSION. WHICH IS WHY THE PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT THAT CHILDREN WEAR IS SO IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY THE HELMETS. TONIGHT SOME FRIGHTENING FACTS, THE DEFENDERS DISCOVERED SOME LOCAL SCHOOLS ARE USING HELMETS CONSIDERED MARGINAL UNDER A NEW HELMET RATING SYSTEM. HERE'S KAREN DREW WITH HER INVESTIGATION. FIRST, THERE IS NO CONCUSSION-PROOF HELMET. SCIENTISTS AT VIRGINIA TECH ARE TESTING HELMETS AND RATING THEM BASED ON HOW WELL THEY REDUCE THE RISK OF CONCUSSIONS. TONIGHT WE REVEAL THOSE RATINGS AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE TELL YOU WHAT LOCAL SCHOOLS ARE USING TO PROTECT YOUR CHILD. FOOTBALL PLAYERS WEAR HELMETS TO PROTECT THEM FROM HITS ON THE FIELD BUT HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHICH HELMET IS BEST FOR YOUR PLAYER? HE'S ONE OF THE SCIENTISTS TESTING FOOTBALL HELMETS AT VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY. WE HAVE SENSORS IN THE VIRGINIA TECH PLAYERS AND A RANGE OF OTHER SCHOOLS AROUND THE COUNTRY. WE TOOK ALL THAT DATA SO WE KNOW EXACTLY HOW MANY TIMES AND HOW HARD PLAYERS ARE HIT, WE TOOK TA DATA INTO THE LABORATORY, RECREATED A LABORATORY TEST THAT MATCHES THAT EXPOSURE. THEY DEVELOPED A STAR RATING SYSTEM TO HELP DETERMINE WHICH ADULT FOOTBALL HELMETS MIGHT BEST REDUCE THE RISK OF A CONCUSSION. WE CREATED A SYSTEM TO RATE HELMETS AND MAKE IT CONSUMER FRIENDLY. IN ITS RATINGS, VIRGINIA TECH LISTS FIVE STAR HELMETS AS THE BEST AVAILABLE. FOUR STARS IS VERY GOOD, THREE, GOOD, TWO, ADEQUATE, AND ONE STAR, MARGINAL. THEN THEY HAVE THE NOT RECOMMENDED CATEGORY. THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE LOWER ONE STAR AND THE UPPER END FIVE STAR ARE DRAMATIC. THEY TEST HELMETS CURRENTLY ON THE MARKET WITH 120 IMPACTS DROPPING FROM DIFFERENT HEIGHTS. THE REIDEL VSR4 IS GIVEN ONLY A 1 STAR RATING. NOW PAY ATTENTION HERE AS WE'LL TELL YOU WHICH COOLS IN OUR AREA ARE USING THIS HELMET RIGHT NOW. PLAYING IN A HELMET WITH ONE STAR LIKE THIS IS MUCH MORE RISKY THAN PLAYING IN ONE OF THE FIVE STAR HELMETS. IN A GENERAL SENSE, MOVING FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP REDUCES YOUR RISK BY 50%. THE DEFENDERS CONTACTED ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS. IN WAYNE, OAKLAND AND MACOMB COUNTIES, ASKING FOR THE MAKE AND THE MODEL OF THE HELMETS USED. THE GOOD NEWS, MANY OF THE SCHOOLS USE FIVE AND FOUR STAR HELMETS. BUT WE ALSO FOUND SOME DISTRICTS USING THE ONE STAR HELMET. IN WAYNE COUNTY, WE DISCOVERED 13 SCHOOLS USING THE ONE STAR HELMET, ALL FROM THE CITY OF DETROIT. CASS TECHNICAL HIGH, CENTRAL HIGH, CODY HIGH AND DENBY HIGH. ALSO FORD HIGH SCHOOL, MARTIN LUTHER KING, MUM MUMFORD HIGH AND NORTHWESTERN HIGH, OSBORN HIGH, PERSHING HIGH, RAN SANS, SOUTHEASTERN, ALL USING ONE STAR HELMETS. THE DETROIT PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM TOLD US THE DISTRICT HAS 23% OF 1 TO 2 STAR RATED HELMETS AND HAS, QUOTE, GREATLY DECREASED NUMBER OF LEL HELMETS IN THE LOWER STANDARDS OF RATINGS AND WILL CONTINUE TO REVIEW OUR PROCESS AND THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH REPLACING THE LOWER END. WE ALSO FOUND THE ONE STAR HELMETS. THE UTICA SCHOOL DISTRICT STATED 90% OF THE HELMETS ARE 4 STARS OR HIGHER AND PLANS TO INCREASE THAT PERCENTAGE WITH THE PURCHASE OF 80 NEW HELMETS FOR THE FALL SEASON. LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL REACTED QUICKLY TO OUR FINDINGS, TELLING THE DEFENDERS THEY HAVE THROWN THEM OUT AND ARE REA PLACING THEM. WHENEVER YOUR KID IS PLAYING, THERE'S A RISK OF INJURY. YOU WANT TO BUY THE BEST YOU CAN. OUR INVESTIGATION FOUND THE ADAMS A2000 PRO ELITE. THE SCHOOL TOLD LOCAL 4 THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE VIRGINIA TECH STUDY BUT, QUOTE, ACCEPT HELMETS BACK INTO INVENTORY BASED ON PROFESSIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS OF OUR COMPANY, REIDEL. CRITICS ARGUE IT SHOULD NOT BE THE ONLY FACTOR. ALL HELMETS EITHER PASS OR FAIL BASED ON THEIR ABILITY TO REDUCE IMPACT FORCES TO THE HEAD. NOXI IS CRITICAL OF THE RESEARCH AT VIRGINIA TECH BECAUSE ONLY ADULT SIZED LARGE HELMETS WERE TESTED ON COLLEGE PLAYERS. THE STAR VALUE IS A THEORETICAL CALCULATION, THERE ARE AN INFINITE NUMBER OF WAYS TO TEST THE HELMETS AND THEY WERE NOT TESTED UNDER GAME CONDITIONS. PARENTS COME IN WHO HAVE TOLD ME THEY'VE GOT TO HAVE THIS HELMET BECAUSE OF THIS RATING SYSTEM, AND AT THIS POINT, I DON'T HAVE ENOUGH PROOF TO BELIEVE IT, SO I HOPE EVERYBODY JUST KEEPS AN OPEN MIND THAT THIS IS AN ONGOING PROJECT FOR EVERYBODY AND THAT WE'RE TRYING TO GET BETTER IN THE INDUSTRY. TO BE FAIR, MANY OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT WERE USING ONE STAR HELMETS ALSO HAD HIGHER RATED HELMETS BUT IT STILL LEAVES YOU WONDERING AS A PARENT WHAT IF YOUR CHILD IS THE ONE WHO WINDS UP WITH THAT ONE STAR? WE LEARNED IN OUR INVESTIGATION THERE'S SO MUCH MORE, THOUGH, TO KEEPING YOUR KIDS SAFE IN THE RATING OF THE HELMETS SO OUR COVERAGE CONTINUES TOMORROW. MONDAY MORNING ON "LOCAL 4 NEWS," TODAY AT 6:00 A.M., AS EXPERTS EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF GETTING THE RIGHT FIT AND HOW YOU CAN CHECK IT TOO. THEN AT 4:00, I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT SCHOOLS DO WITH FOOTBALL HELMETS IN THE OFF-SEASON TO MAKE SURE IT'S SAFE FOR YOUR PLAYERS TO USE AGAIN. THEN AT 5:30 -- RESEARCHERS ARE SCRAMBLING TO FIND BETTER WAYS TO DIAGNOSE AND TREAT CONCUSSIONS. I'M DR. FRANK MCGEORGE. FROM BLOOD TESTS TO HIGH-TECH DEVICES TO THESE BASIC INDEX CARDS, I'LL SHOW YOU THE TOOLS THAT EXPERTS ARE USEING TO HELP MAKE THE CALL. THEN ON "LOCAL 4 NEWS" AT 6:00, I'LL BE REVEALING THE CHANGES BEING MADE AT HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL PRACTICES TO

Comments

The views expressed below are not those of Click On Detroit, WDIV, or its affiliated companies. By clicking on "Post," you acknowledge that you have read the Terms of Service and your comment is in compliance with such terms. Readers, please help keep this discussion respectful and on topic by flagging comments that are offensive or inappropriate (hover over the commenter's name and you'll see the flag option appear on right side of that line). And remember, respect goes both ways: Tolerance of others' opinions is important in a free discourse. If you're easily offended by strong opinions, you might skip reading comments entirely.